Chapter 146: Purple Butterfly
When the blacksmith arrived, Qin Wanwan explained it to him again.
This blacksmith was quite capable and quickly understood what the child wanted.
“The item you want is a bit difficult to make and might take a few days.”
Qin Wanwan: “It’s okay, just let me know when it’s done.”
After the blacksmith left, the little one pestered Rong Zhi to teach him the guqin.
The little chubby cub was very good at acting spoiled, and Rong Zhi finally agreed.
Qin Wanwan jumped for joy.
“Daddy Rong, I’ll give you a gift in a few days, it’s a surprise for now.”
Rong Zhi hummed in response.
After accompanying Daddy Rong for a while, Ke Ke came to find her.
“Cub, your Daddy Shang is back.”
Qin Wanwan’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Daddy Rong, I’ll come see you tomorrow, bye-bye, goodbye, goodnight~”
Rong Zhi: …What kind of way is this to say goodbye and hello?
She ran out of Rong Zhi’s home and saw her Daddy Shang directing people to move things.
She leaned in to take a look and discovered it was all high-quality fabric, porcelain ornaments, and other items.
“Daddy, why did you buy so many things?”
Shang Wuyang extended a hand, and the little Qilin instinctively placed her little chubby hand into his.
Hmm… Daddy’s hand was indeed very cold.
She covered it with her other hand to warm it up.
Shang Wuyang’s voice was languid: “So much? These were ordered from people a while ago, they’re only just arriving home.”
Qin Wanwan didn’t recognize luxury goods, but Ke Ke did.
“This is Moonlight Brocade, famous from Jiangnan, and one bolt costs a thousand gold.”
Even many nobles in the Imperial Palace couldn’t afford Moonlight Brocade.
Shang Wuyang bought a whole carriage-load, truly not caring about money.
The porcelain was also from the famous Imperial Merchant Gong family. Their largest supply of porcelain was for the Imperial Palace; the porcelain was exquisite, and there was one color that other families couldn’t replicate. A single vase cost several thousand.
Besides these, the most expensive items were probably the fur cloaks.
The porters were extremely careful, afraid of damaging anything, as they wouldn’t be able to afford the compensation.
“These are for you.”
Qin Wanwan stood on her tiptoes and looked. They were some particularly cute, fluffy cloaks.
“Are they all animal hide? How many animals had to be killed?” Qin Wanwan frowned her little brow.
It wasn’t that she was overly sentimental. As the king of beasts, the Qilin also ate meat.
Normally, at the border, animal hides were sold. These were from prey encountered during hunts, and if the fur was good, it was kept and sold. She didn’t find anything wrong with that.
It was simply survival of the fittest in the grand scheme of things.
However, if it was solely for the pursuit of nobility and extravagance, and specific animals were hunted and skinned, she felt a little uncomfortable.
“What are you thinking about? I had people buy these from all over the country.”
Shang Wuyang naturally knew what Qin Wanwan was worried about, and playfully pinched her nose.
Sometimes, the price of certain animal furs would be driven up so high that countless people would risk hunting these animals for profit.
There was a time when people paid a high price for sable fur and specifically had people hunt them. During that period, many areas suffered from sable overhunting, leading to a sharp decrease in the sable population.
Shang Wuyang himself disliked the practice of driving up prices and hunting animals.
Hunters entering the mountains to hunt were doing so for survival. Occasionally, they might be lucky enough to encounter special animals like sables, red foxes, or white foxes, and it was their furs that would fetch a higher price.
These actions did not harm the functioning of the natural order.
Shang Wuyang’s furs were collected from various countries, legitimately purchased from merchants.
Of course, he wouldn’t be overcharged; they were all market prices.
In Tianqi, the various tribes and countries on the grasslands, and the small neighboring countries of Tianqi, there were enough places to find some beautiful furs, and the quantity gathered was quite considerable.
Only Shang Wuyang had the ability to purchase these furs from so many places.
After hearing her father’s words, Qin Wanwan’s eyes curved into a smile.
“Daddy, you’re so nice. Daddy is afraid of the cold, so you should wear warmer clothes.”
Shang Wuyang cast a glance at the little one.
Upon returning home, she looked at the various exquisite porcelain ornaments that had appeared in the room.
Qin Wanwan touched this and that: “This could sell for a lot of money.”
Shang Wuyang, overhearing her, playfully tapped her forehead.
“Do I lack that much money?”
Qin Wanwan covered her head and mumbled, “I was just saying.”
“Oh, right, Daddy.”
Qin Wanwan took out a butterfly pupa from her small sachet.
“Daddy, can you help me make a beautiful little hairpin with this? I want one with flowers.”
Shang Wuyang took the butterfly pupa. He narrowed his eyes slightly; the ruby-like butterfly pupa looked even more beautiful between his white, jade-like fingers.
“Where did you get this?”
Qin Wanwan leaned on his thigh.
“Isn’t it beautiful? A beggar gave it to me…”
The little chubby cub couldn’t keep secrets, and her little mouth chattered about everything she had done that day.
Shang Wuyang: “Silly, do you know what this is? You take whatever people give you.”
“What is it?”
The little Qilin, called silly, pouted indignantly: “I’m not silly, that beggar didn’t mean any harm to Wanwan.”
Shang Wuyang chuckled softly: “This is the only useful thing about you; at least I don’t have to worry about you being tricked away by someone with a candied hawthorn.”
“This is a type of Gu worm from Southern Border, a purple butterfly.”
The little Qilin still looked blank and bewildered.
Shang Wuyang pinched her chubby cheeks.
“In Southern Border, there is a special race that lives deep in forests with many poisonous insects. They can control most poisonous Gu worms. Though few in number, they are a presence that others fear and are wary of.”
Including that Divine Doctor Yu Wuyou.
Almost no one knew that, besides his title of Divine Doctor, he was more suited to another title.
Yu Wuyou, skilled in both medicine and poison.
A person who embodied both life and death.
“What kind of hairpin do you want to make?”
Qin Wanwan was surprised: “Didn’t Daddy say Gu worms are very dangerous?”
“Many things themselves are neither good nor bad; it depends on the person using them.”
He smiled dismissively at the small butterfly pupa.
“Can’t you even control a small butterfly?”
Qin Wanwan was, of course, very confident. She patted her little chest.
“Then Wanwan definitely can!”
Shang Wuyang held the little one and began designing the hairpin she wanted on paper.
There was a flower Qin Wanwan liked, a begonia.
The begonia was small and vibrant.
On the little Qilin’s face, it would perfectly set off her small face.
The red butterfly pupa next to the blooming begonia resembled a flower bud about to open.
Qin Wanwan looked at her father’s design sketch from all angles, finding it beautiful no matter how she looked at it.
“Daddy is so amazing!”
The little Qilin gave him a tiny thumbs-up.
Shang Wuyang: “Have someone start making it.”
Then he called someone over: “Investigate the unfamiliar beggars who have appeared recently, especially one with an injured eye. Or perhaps his eye isn’t injured; it’s just a disguise.”
Shang Wuyang stroked the red jade thumb ring on his finger.
“Ask the beggars who have seen him.”
“Yes!”
Shang Wuyang curled his lips happily. Yu Wuyou, he finally caught him.
What the little one said was indeed true; she was a little lucky star.
After giving all the instructions, Shang Wuyang didn’t rush to catch the person.
He was tired.
Having been working nonstop for two days, Shang Wuyang had noticeable dark circles under his eyes.
His skin was so fair that the dark circles looked even more pronounced.
After removing his human skin mask, showering, and washing his hair, he walked barefoot in his bedroom wearing a dark red robe, holding his little warm stove.
